UPCOMING EVENTS

Silicon Valley’s tech boom has spurred a housing boom in Northern California, with many tech workers complaining about the spiraling cost of living in the nine-county Bay Area region.

But to put things in perspective, PropertyShark calculated that 18 billionaires could buy every property in 33 cities in Silicon Valley. Both investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the two richest people in the world, could divide up San Francisco between them. It’s kind of an interesting exercise in big data calculations, and an enlightening look at how much financial power is concentrated in the hands of so few in our society.

PropertyShark said that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg could buy not only Palo Alto, home to one of the most expensive ZIP codes in the nation, but also all of Los Altos Hills.

San Jose, the southern tip of Silicon Valley, could be divided between the No. 3 and No. 4 richest people in the world, Spanish business magnate Amancio Ortega and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who could afford to split the $152 billion worth of residential property.

Above: 18 billionaires could buy all the homes in 33 cities in Silicon Valley.